BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SB 993|
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                              UNFINISHED BUSINESS


          Bill No:  SB 993
          Author:   De León (D), et al.
          Amended:  5/21/12
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE  :  7-1, 4/11/12
          AYES:  Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price, Simitian, 
            Vargas
          NOES:  Huff
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Runner, Blakeslee, Vacancy

           SENATE FLOOR  :  31-1, 04/19/12
          AYES: Alquist, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Calderon, Cannella, 
            Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Gaines, 
            Hancock, Hernandez, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete 
            McLeod, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Rubio, Simitian, 
            Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas, Walters, Wolk, Wright, 
            Wyland, Yee
          NOES: Anderson
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Dutton, Emmerson, Fuller, Harman, Huff, 
            La Malfa, Lieu, Runner

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  59-13, 8/9/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    School curriculum:  social sciences:  Bracero 
          program

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill authorizes social science instruction 
                                                           CONTINUED





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          to include instruction on the Bracero program.

          Assembly Amendments  add coauthors.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Authorizes instruction in social science for grades 7-12 
             to include instruction on World War II and the American 
             role in that war. 

          2. Encourages instruction in social science for grades 7-12 
             to include the role of Filipinos in World War II.  

          3. Encourages instruction in social science for grades 7-12 
             to include instruction on the Vietnam war including the 
             "Secret War" in Laos and the role of Southeast Asians in 
             that war.  

          This bill authorizes social science instruction to include 
          instruction on the Bracero program.  Specifically, this 
          bill:

          1. Authorizes instruction in social science for grades 7-12 
             to include instruction on the Bracero program.

          2. Authorizes this instruction to include a component drawn 
             from personal testimony, especially in the form of oral 
             or video histories of individuals who were involved with 
             the Bracero program.  Oral histories may do all of the 
             following:

             A.    Exemplify the economic and cultural effects of 
                the Bracero program during and after World War II, 
                including its effects on the railroad system, 
                agriculture, and immigration in the United States.

             B.    Contain the views and comments of their 
                subjects regarding the reasons for their 
                participation in the Bracero program and their 
                immigrant story, generally.

          3. States that this bill is to be implemented in a way that 







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             does not result in new duties or programs being imposed 
             on school districts, and declares that this bill does 
             not mandate costs to local agencies or school districts, 
             and that materials used to comply with this bill be part 
             of normal curriculum materials purchased by school 
             districts in their normal course of business and 
             purchasing cycles.

           Background
           
          Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts, 
          and skills that pupils should acquire at each grade level.  
          Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for implementing 
          the standards, and include criteria by which instructional 
          materials are evaluated.

          The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting 
          instructional materials have been suspended since July 28, 
          2009.  The State Board of Education (SBE) is specifically 
          prohibited from reviewing frameworks and adopting 
          instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year.  

          The history-social science framework was last adopted in 
          2005.  A review of this framework was underway and nearly 
          complete when the state suspended the process due to budget 
          constraints.  The draft framework for grade 11 includes 
          information about agricultural labor provided by immigrants 
          who came through the Bracero program.

           Prior legislation
           
          SB 48 (Leno), Chapter 81, Statutes of 2011, requires 
          instruction in social science to include the role and 
          contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender 
          Americans.

          SB 300 (Hancock), Chapter 624, Statutes of 2011, at one 
          time included provisions relative to the completion of the 
          history-social science framework.  The final version of SB 
          300 requires the SBE to adopt revised standards in science.

          SB 1278 (Wyland), 2010 Session, would have required the SBE 
          to adopt a revised framework and evaluation criteria for 
          history-social science in 2011.  SB 1278 was held in the 







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          Assembly Appropriations Committee.

          AB 2069 (Carter), 2010 Session, would have required the SBE 
          to adopt a revised framework and evaluation criteria for 
          history-social science by July 1, 2011.  AB 2069 was held 
          in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/9/12)

          American Federation of State, County and Municipal 
          Employees
          Asociación de Loncheros L.A. Familia Unida de California
          Associacion Retalteca
          California Association for Bilingual Education
          California Immigrant Policy Center
          California-Mexico Studies Center, Inc.
          Californians Together
          Casa de la Cultura Maya
          City of Bell Gardens
          Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
          Consejo Binacional de Organizaciones Cumunitarias Inc.
          Federacion Chihuahua
          Fraternidad Cotzumalguapa
          Los Angeles Produce Market Association
          Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles
          National Association of Social Workers
          Schools for Integrated Academics and Technologies
          Union de Guatemaltecos Emigrantes
          Universidad de Colima

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author, "The 
          history of the Bracero program has been frequently 
          overlooked and it is rarely taught in California public 
          schools.  The Bracero program was a guest worker program 
          set up through a series of bilateral agreements between the 
          United States and Mexico that was intended to fill the 
          shortage of American labor during the war years.  
          Established in 1942, the program continued in the post-WWII 
          years because of the demand for labor in the agriculture 
          business and the railroad maintenance system.  The program 
          helped the US economy flourish, though it was criticized 







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          for the mistreatment of Mexican workers, especially because 
          in many instances Braceros were never paid their due wages. 
           The program also marked a turning point in Mexican 
          immigration to the US by influencing unauthorized 
          immigration trends.  Given the impact of immigration on 
          this state, it is important for students to have a 
          historical understanding of the immigration trends that 
          have come to shape California's demographics and economy."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR :  59-13, 8/9/12
          AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill 
            Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, 
            Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, 
            Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, 
            Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, 
            Monning, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, 
            Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, 
            Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NOES: Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Garrick, Hagman, Halderman, 
            Harkey, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, 
            Wagner
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Conway, Cook, Gorell, Grove, Roger 
            Hernández, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby


          PQ:do  8/10/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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